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Walking into Heather Gordon’s backyard it is easy to see that she has a passion and a skill for creating mosaics.
Dating her passion for art back to when she was a child, Heather’s creative thinking has resulted in some fantastic one-off pieces that cannot help but catch the eye of people passing by.
From mermaids to birds, ants to bees and flowers to cherries, Heather’s backyard is an amazing record of fiction and non-fiction nature.
“I have always being intrigued by mosaics,” Heather said.
“It looks so simple on the outside but it is a complex process.
“I tried different art media when I was seeking a creative way of managing chronic pain, that is, using art as therapy.
“When I participated in Irene Stone Pearce’s mosaic workshop at ‘Tickletank’, Mt Barker, South Australia, I knew immediately that mosaic was what I wanted to do.”
Having lived and worked in regional South Australia for most of her life, Heather draws a lot of her inspiration from nature.
She has even created a children’s counting book to complement her Bushland Mosaic that she designed across a section her back wall.
However, not all of her inspiration is drawn from organic material.
A few years ago Heather travelled to Elliston to attend the Sculpture on the Cliffs event.
While she was there she came across a mosaic table that Siv Grava and John Turpie had created as a memorial for Jevan Wright who disappeared while surfing during 2000.
“I admire the community aspect of the design of the mosaic table and the functionality of it while giving a permanent memorial to Jevan,” Heather said.
“I am also incredibly impressed with the fine detail achieved in the mosaic and the ensuing reflections of Jevan’s life.”
Currently Heather is working on her 10-year plan to have every external wall of her home covered in mosaic art.
Only three years into her plan and she has already completed an eight metre by two metre mermaid wall and a nine metre by two metre bushland theme wall.
“My goal is to have a home based business activity whereby groups visit my garden (by prior arrangement) and view the mosaics while having a cup of tea,” Heather said.
“My ‘tester’ for this is an Open Studio during the South Australian Living Artists Festival on August 10 and 11, 2013.
“The mosaics are accessible for those using wheel chairs or ‘wheelie-walkers’ and there is some seating for reflection.”
Mosaic is not all about art for Heather. A lot of it is also about recycling. Many of the tiles and plates that make up her mosaic wall were all destined for land fill.
“I am enormously grateful to my amazing friends, family and neighbours who help me out in various ways to achieve my dream of transforming the external walls of an ordinary cream brick house into an extraordinary home wrapped in glittering mosaic,” Heather said.
“It has been very beneficial for me to volunteer as a gallery attendant at Salon Rouge Gallery during the past four years.
“I’ve learned a vast amount, met some great people as well as being artistically nurtured by the gallery owner and director, Jacqueline Coates.”